Arizona-Utah game blog: Wildcats run past the Utes

Ka’Deem Carey ran for 110 yards in the first half. Photo by Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats, with a strong running attack and a defense that came up with key plays, won at Utah 34-24 on Saturday night.

Arizona moves to 7-4 overall and 4-4 in the Pac-12 in coach Rich Rodriguez’s first season and picks up its first road win in four tries this season.

UA rushed for 320 yards against a Utah defense that had not given up more than 171 in any game this season. With the loss, the Utes drop to 4-7 and can’t make it to the postseason for the first time since the 2002 season.

Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey rushed 26 times for 204 yards to follow up his 366-yard effort against Colorado that set the Pac-12 record. He entered the game tied for second nationally in rushing, but has taken over the lead from Nevada’s Stepfphon Jefferson.

The Cats finish the regular season vs. Arizona State on Friday night at Arizona Stadium.

* * *

John Bonano makes a 25-yard field goal with 1:15 left to give Arizona a 34-24 lead. The Cats can almost take this to the bank.

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Arizona comes up with its fourth fourth-down stop of the game — and this one is really crucial. Utah, with only one timeout left, goes for it on fourth-and-4 from its 27 with 3:36 left. Travis Wilson passes over the middle to Kenneth Scott, but Jared Tevis and Marquis Flowers stop him about a half-yard short of a first down.

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Arizona fails to pad the lead but puts Utah in a bad spot, with a Kyle Duganzic punt down at the 7 with 5:59 to play. Can the defense do what it couldn’t — get a stop — late in the game at Stanford earlier this season?

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Arizona’s defense forces a punt. The Cats will start at their 27 with 8:10 left. A touchdown here would put Arizona in a really good way.

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Too tricky? Utah pulled off the fake field goal for a touchdown earlier, but a fake punt goes awry for the Utes on fourth-and-6 from their 39. Punter Sean Sellwood throws behind Mike Honeycutt over the middle. He makes the catch but that helps give Kylan Butler enough time to make the tackle after a 2-yard gain.

Arizona takes advantage and scores on an 18-yard pass to Austin Hill with 11:07 to go. Cats up 31-24.

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Arizona, after a scoreless third quarter, ties the game with a 75-yard drive, capped by a 2-yard run by Daniel Jenkins, who bounces the play to the outside and scores going around left end. It’s 24-24 with 13:55 to play.

Not sure if Ka’Deem Carey has been a bit under the weather, but Jenkins has been getting more time than usual tonight. He’s a good back, there just hasn’t been many snaps available to him with Carey often getting nearly 30 touches in a game.

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Third quarter ends. Arizona is driving, with the ball at the Utah 27.

Another potential injury to watch: WR Austin Hill left the game in the final minute of the quarter, with his left arm dangling at his side.

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Utah takes the lead on a 36-yard pass to DeVonte Christopher, who runs past safety Jared Tevis and is open for a throw to the end zone. It’s time for Arizona’s offense to respond as the Utes lead 24-17 with 1:59 to go in the third quarter.

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Matt Scott not in rhythm in the passing game. Some rust? He’s 9 of 20 for 109 yards as the Cats have to punt the ball back to Utah. Cats offense not doing anything in the second half.

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Utah ties the game with a 24-yard field goal from Coleman Petersen with 6:49 to go in the third quarter. Like Colorado did last week, the Utes are able to put together long, time-consuming drives that limits the number of possessions in a game — which is the opposite of what Arizona wants.

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At one point in this Utah drive, Arizona was playing DT Tevin Hood, S Blake Brady, S Jared Tevis, S Vince Miles and LB Sir Thomas Jackson. That’s five players who arrived in Tucson as walk-ons.

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Shaquille Richardson forces a fumble from Dres Anderson on a reverse, but the Utes recover at the UA 12. Woulda, coulda.

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Cornerback Shaquille Richardson is back for Arizona in the second half, but defensive end Reggie Gilbert and safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant are still ouit after leaving the game in the first half due to injuries.

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Second half starts and Arizona forces Utah to punt for the first time. Wide receiver Sean Willet is back to return punts for the second consecutive game. The reason? Richard Morrison, the usual punt returner, has been spending his practice time as a backup quarterback in the past two weeks with Matt Scott ailing.

* * *

Stanford takes down undefeated Oregon 17-14 in overtime. The North division is still up for grabs, with the Cardinal holding the tiebreaker edge on the Ducks (each team is 7-1 in the league). But Stanford has to play at South champ UCLA on Saturday, needing to win to secure the division title.

If not, Oregon can still get there by winning at Oregon State.

* * *

Arizona squanders a chance to pad the lead late in the first half. QB Matt Scott and RB Daniel Jenkins fumble the exchange (was Scott going to give him the ball or pull it back?) after the Cats had reached the Utah 7. The Utes recover with 33 seconds left.

Halftime: Arizona 17, Utah 14.

Ka’Deem Carey has 110 yards on 14 carries.

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Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson also leaves the game with a hand/wrist injury. So, that’s three UA defensive players who have left the game due to injury … and Utah takes advantage with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Travis Wilson to Jake Murphy, the son of former major-league star Dale Murphy.

Arizona leads Utah 17=14 with 3:45 to go before half.

* * *

Defensive end Reggie Gilbert down on the field with 4:16 left. S Tra’Mayne Bondurant hasn’t come back in yet; he’s been replaced by Blake Brady, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship after spring ball.

* * *

Arizona gets back to business, with defensive end Reggie Gilbert recovering a fumble at the Utah 27 as the ball slips out of the hands of QB Travis Wilson. Matt Scott drives the Cats to the 10 and then takes it in himself on a read-option, keeping the ball and running untouched around left end into the end zone.

UA moves up 17-7 with 7:59 to play in the second quarter.

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Matt Scott is running with the ball more than I thought he would — five times for 48 yards — and he appears to be laboring, even throwing up on the field as he did at the end of the USC game.

In any case, he has the Cats moving at a really fast pace and the Arizona ground game takes control on a 75-yard touchdown drive. Ka’Deem Carey finishes it off with a 1-yard touchdown run, his 19th rushing score of the season. Arizona leads 10-7 with 9:22 to go before halftime.

* * *

Utah faces another fourth-down situation and lines up to try a field goal on fourth-and-1 from the 3. But coach Kyle Whittingham has a deep back of tricks, and he goes for a fake, with the holder shooting the ball between his legs to kicker Coleman Petersen running to his right. Petersen has the blocking and scores a touchdown for a 7-3 lead.

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Arizona safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant being attended to on the field with 12:23 to play in the second quarter. Cats can’t afford another injury in the secondary. He jumped to block a pass and got upended, landing on his shoulder/head.

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Utah on the move as the first quarter ends with Arizona up 3-0. Just as the UA defense was gathering momentum, Utah pulled out a flea-flicker for a 42-yard gain as Travis Wilson went deep down field to DeVonte Christopher. Utes at the Arizona 29.

* * *

After three failed fourth-down attempts, a coach in this game finally decided that a field-goal try was a good idea. RichRod sends out John Bonano for a 44-yard attempt … and he drills it. Arizona goes up 3-0 with 2:15 to go in the first quarter.

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Utah linebacker Trevor Reilly gets his hands to the head of Matt Scott and gets called for unnecessary roughness. Scott looks fine.

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The Arizona defense comes up with another big stop, swarming to stop RB John White on fourth-and-1 from the 4. Utah wanted to get physical there with the Wildcats, lining up in a power formation, but the Utes pitch it to White on the left side. Who comes up with the stop? A true freshman linebacker (Dakota Conwell) and a walk-on redshirt freshman safety (Vince Miles).

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Ball security has not been an issue for running back Ka’Deem Carey, but he loses the ball on Arizona’s second possession and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei recovers at the UA 28.

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On a rainy night, neither team seems comfortable trying a somewhat long field goal. After Arizona turns the ball over on downs, Utah does the same, failing on fourth-and-5 from the UA 26.

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Arizona gets to the Utah 18 on its opening drive, but a pass-interference call puts the Cats in a bad spot. UA eventually goes for it on fourth-and-23 from the Utah 31, but Matt Scott throws incomplete. Scott was just 2 of 7 passing on the drive. This goes down as an 0-fer in the red zone.

* * *

Matt Scott starts and has a shaky stop, dropping the first snap before recovering for a 4-yard loss. On the next snap, he overthrows Austin Hill down the sideline and is nearly intercepted. But a third-and-14 pass to David Richards keeps the drive alive.

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RichRod crosses me up and elects to receive after winning the toss (see note below).

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Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, if he wins the toss, likes to defer the choice to the second half. So, if UA wins the toss, it will open the game with a kickoff to Utah, which features Reggie Dunn. He has returned seven kicks this season … and taken three for touchdowns.

Chances are the Cats will be creative in how they kick off, unless they trust John Bonano to put it deep into the end zone each time. The last thing UA wants to see is a returned like Dunn gathering speed against a kick coverage unit filled with freshmen and walk-ons.

Of course, Arizona hopes to kick off a lot tonight. That would be a good problem to have.

* * *

I don’t much like this matchup for Arizona.

Utah’s strength up front on both sides of the ball figures to be issues for the Wildcats, who will be running into a 4-6 Utes team desperate for a win to march toward bowl eligibility. Added emotion: It’s the last home game of the season for Utah.

But, mostly, it’s that size that is most problematic.

The Cats have to find a way to move defensive tackles Star Lotulelei and Dave Kruger (that’s a combined 320 pounds) out of the way and make room for running back Ka’Deem Carey. Overall, Utah’s front seven is one of the biggest and the best in the Pac-12.

“This will be one of the most physical and biggest teams we’ve played this year,” Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said.

“It’ll be a tough environment, and we will be tested both mentally and physically. We need to play a lot tougher and be more physical than the last several weeks.”

Perhaps Arizona’s offensive tempo — especially with Matt Scott expected back at quarterback — can have the bigger Utes huffing and puffing by the end of the game. Should be a close one, but a big game from Utah running back John White IV carries the night: